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Enclosing 485 square miles of northwestern Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park protects a vast wilderness that includes forests, lakes and eight mountains standing over 12,000 feet. It is also home to wildlife such as bald eagles, grizzly bears, moose, bison and elk. This natural grandeur drew in more than 330,000 campers to back-country sites and the park's six separate campgrounds during 2008, and even some of those campgrounds were never filled to capacity. Despite its popularity, Grand Teton National Park remains a relatively uncrowded park for pitching your tent and getting away from it all.

Colter Bay Campground

Colter Bay is one of Grand Teton National Park's two campgrounds that is open to RVs. It offers a mix of 350 sites for both RVs and tents in a wooded area adjacent to Jackson Lake. Every campsite is equipped with a picnic table and a fire pit, and the campground as a whole is serviced by bathhouses and a coin laundry. Colter Bay Campground is part of the larger Colter Bay Village complex, which includes rental cabins, a general store and a marina on Jackson Lake.

Colter Bay Campground25 miles north of Moose, WY800-628-9988nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm

Flagg Ranch Campground

Operated by a national park concessionaire, this campground offers 175 joint tent-and-RV campsites in a forest of fir and spruce. All sites have full hookups (20-amp electricity), picnic tables and fire pits. Flagg Ranch campground is just inside the border between Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, and thus offers a central location for exploring both.

Gros Ventre Campground

The Gros Ventre Campground is less than 12 miles to the southeast of the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center on the edge of the park's borders. Due south of the campground is the National Elk Refuge. Set amid cottonwoods and sagebrush on the banks of the Gros Ventre River, the campground offers 350 sites with picnic tables and fire pits. It is serviced by bathrooms with flush toilets, but without showers.

Jenny Lake Campground

Jenny Lake is one of Grand Teton National Park's smaller campgrounds, hosting only 51 tents-only sites. The National Park Service considers it the park's most popular campground, and it is often full before noon. Set amid the boulders and evergreen forest on the banks of Jenny Lake, the campground sits less than 10 miles due east of the park's major mountains, such as Grand Teton, Mt. Owen, Middle Teton and South Teton.

Jenny Lake Campground8 miles north of Moose, WY800-628-9988nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm

Lizard Creek Campground

Lizard Creek tends to open later and close earlier than the park's other campgrounds, usually operating between early May and late August. It is a 60-site campground at the northernmost fringe of the park, and, according to the National Park Service, it is rarely full. Nestled in a fir and spruce forest overlooking Jackson Lake, the campground features some of the least developed, non-back-country campsites in the park.

Lizard Creek Campground16 miles north of Jenny Lake, WY800-672-6012nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm

Signal Mountain Campground

Situated near Signal Mountain Lodge, this is an 81-site campground for both RVs and tent-campers. The wooded campground offers the combination of views of surrounding hills, mountains and Jackson Lake with the convenience of being less than a mile from the restaurants and camp store at the lodge. The National Park Service indicates that it usually fills up by mid-afternoon, making it one of the park's most popular campgrounds.

Signal Mountain Campground16 miles north of Jenny Lake, WY800-672-6012nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm

Back-Country Camping

Grand Teton National Park is open to back-country camping. Indeed, mountaineers planning to scale the heights of peaks like Grand Teton are necessarily back-country campers as well, since such expeditions require overnight trips into the park's wilderness. The park is organized into several back-country camping zones, for which a set number of permits are issued at any given time on a first-come, first-serve basis. These permits are free and are issued at the Colter Bay and Craig Thomas Discovery visitor centers. All back-country campers are required to exercise proper latrine precautions, as well as "leave no trace" and "pack-in, pack-out" standards during their camping trips.

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About the Author

Edwin Thomas has been writing since 1997. His work has appeared in various online publications, including The Black Table, Proboxing-Fans and others. A travel blogger, editor and writer, Thomas has traveled from Argentina to Vietnam in pursuit of stories. He holds a Master of Arts in international affairs from American University.

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